I just purchased a copy of Standing in the Shadow of Motown.
This music help turn me on to grooving.Benny Benjamin,Uriel Jones and Pistol Allen appear on more #1 hits than anyone else in musical history.
Please kind people of DW,could you include them in your list of inspirational drummers you have so extensively compiled.

Everyone knows their importance in the history of "popular" music and they actually were much more than that. The first groove masters for the public to hear other than the funk and soul of Mr. Brown.
Thanks for the reminder. Doc

Me too Grunt, I love the music of Motown very dearly, it's the soundtrack of my youth. Those guys....I feel so bad that those guys so didn't get what they deserved, it makes me sick. I tried playing along to those tunes, you know, jamming to the stereo...the time expands and contracts, I never noticed while listening. I'm not saying that in a bad way, quite the opposite. Those songs have real human time feel and have everything a song recorded to a click, lack.

Precious little is written about the original and arguably the best Motown drummer, Benny Benjamin. I think he died of a heroin overdose. I think. I know he played with a lot of the greats of the day, I learned that from the DVD. Not much else, except he liked to drink corn liquor too.

Make sure you watch the bonus footage. There's some great stuff in there that you don't get from the movie. I particularly liked how they would imitate Jamerson when he talked. From what I can gather, he talked..not funny, but distinctive. His one nickname was Igor, and I think it may have something to do with the way he spoke. This is all conjecture on my part.

I know a guy who knows Allen Slutsky, the author of the book the movie grew out of. He told me Allen got shot down for funding for the project, and on the plane ride home, he was lamenting the whole story to some stranger in the seat next to him, long story short, the stranger made the movie happen. Pretty cool. Great documentary. All those guys are among my musical heros. Jamerson and Benjamin to me are the most intriguing as people.

Hey guys! I'm Drew Schultz, the drummer with The Four Tops. I was lucky to conduct interviews with Funk Brother Uriel Jones, and Benjamin Corbett, the drummer from the Tops for years and years before me, as well as The Temptations. These guys are the best. You can read it here:

Hey guys! I'm Drew Schultz, the drummer with The Four Tops. I was lucky to conduct interviews with Funk Brother Uriel Jones, and Benjamin Corbett, the drummer from the Tops for years and years before me, as well as The Temptations. These guys are the best. You can read it here:

Hey guys! I'm Drew Schultz, the drummer with The Four Tops. I was lucky to conduct interviews with Funk Brother Uriel Jones, and Benjamin Corbett, the drummer from the Tops for years and years before me, as well as The Temptations. These guys are the best. You can read it here:

Motown and soul music have really been my life, and it's always great to know that people are still passionate about it.

Wow, like Larry said, it's cool you're around here. I always liked motown music, so many great songs made by great artists and groups. Great grooves and lyrics. It's a shame it doesn't seem 'hip' anymore in today's music.

Hip anymore??? Your kidding right?? Its Motown it goes nowhere but into the hearts of people with soul and grooves!!! The studio has long been closed and time moves on but recorded music stays and its very much "alive" who says its "Not Hip Anymore" and to mention it or compare it to todays music? What music from "today" compares to Motown?
Your kidding right? What is todays music thats rendered Motown "hipless"?? Doc

Hip anymore??? Your kidding right?? Its Motown it goes nowhere but into the hearts of people with soul and grooves!!! The studio has long been closed and time moves on but recorded music stays and its very much "alive" who says its "Not Hip Anymore" and to mention it or compare it to todays music? What music from "today" compares to Motown?
Your kidding right? What is todays music thats rendered Motown "hipless"?? Doc

Touchy subject ;)?

Maybe you didn't get my point. When I said it doesn't seem 'hip' anymore I mean it's nothing like what I hear on the radio over here everyday and also not what seems to be on the minds of the young kids these days. And their tastes seem to dictate a lot of the music that's produced nowadays. A pity...

Maybe you didn't get my point. When I said it doesn't seem 'hip' anymore I mean it's nothing like what I hear on the radio over here everyday and also not what seems to be on the minds of the young kids these days. And their tastes seem to dictate a lot of the music that's produced nowadays. A pity...

Now I understand better what you meant in you original comments, however, it will depends on the radio stations that you choose to listen, I, for one, do not listen to "top 50 charts music" radio, most of it is so irevelant to my taste in music. Also, not only young kids are listening to music, everybody does.

To me the influences of motown's music and drummers are still pretty alive these days and the work of drummers like Benny Benjamin, Richard Allen, George Brown, Hal Blaine and percussionists like Eddie "Bongo" Brown and Jack Ashford have infulenced many generations of drummers, even that, at the time we didn't know who was playing in these records, it's very alive in some drummers today.

Hey listen your not exactly in the main stream area of music, no offense. The Motown music lives on every day here in the States on "pop radio" and its played as much now as it was then. Ofcourse the kids dictate whats done in the studios their the ones buying the crap. What do kids know about it anyways, they bought millions of dollars worth of Monkees, Abba, Kiss, Miley Cyrus etc. theres kids music that remains kid like then theres young peoples music that grows to adulthood just as people do who understand quality music and talent. The Kiss guys aren't exactly the Temptations and the Monkees won't be mistaken for the Four Tops. Tell me something, who today is as good or better than Marvin Gaye? Thats right, No One! So hey it is touchy and its absurd to compare the eras.
Their are young people in the "new" R&B music who are very aware of the R&B from the past and you can clearly hear the influences of Stevie Wonder in many vocalists and your starting hear grooves from the passed recycle into the "new mainstream"! I think you might be listening to "pop crap" in kiddy land white radio. Maybe Abba is a big influence in the Netherlands, I assure you in the States the kids are getting down to soul and heart again. You just don't know where to look, different times different measuring sticks but the focus remains on the beat, the groove the lyrics and keeping it true to the Soul! It'll come around over there in time your kind a off grid so to speak. Doc

Hey listen your not exactly in the main stream area of music, no offense.

True. The Netherlands, maybe Europe in general, is always following. The one area where The Netherlands seem have some leadership is all those DJ's, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, whatever, I don't know all their names. Not my kind of music.

Some new Dutch artists or groups do groove but I would call it more pop or rock influenced than by soul or Motown. Might be different in a few years though.